Lost Time
by OptimusPrime13
Summary: When Chromia is found, and the thought of their death extinguished, the bots hurry to find the rest of the friends, and for Prime, Elita One. But, what if they are too late?
1. Chapter 1

The room was dark. The lights of the hallways couldn't reach the center room by design. Once the lights were flipped off, and the screens went blank, all that could be seen was black. It was designed that way, yes. The slightest bit of light would distract the residents of the room and bring attention to anything that was needed. As an example, the single blinking red light that was going off now.

A large figure stirred, and clumsily walked to the computer under the light, grumbling to himself. He checked the computer, and his eyes opened.

He hit a switch immediately and every light came on every where. It highlighted the other three robots and the small humans standing in the middle, yawning and covering their optics from the blinding lights. Three robots, one jet black with two enormously-sized cannons attached to his large arms. Another quite a bit taller with a white coat over him with red and blue coloring over the rest. The last obviously younger than the others. Yellow, with a hint of black here and there. They circled around the first robot, who was green in color.

"Ratchet," the black one murmured out towards the green one. "This better be good."

"Oh, it's good alright." the green one, or Ratchet replied. "It's a distress signal. It came across our emergency frequency. You're lucky the sound system broke and that I used its sound compactor to do what I could to Bee's voice box or it would've gotten a little loud in here."

"Where is the signal coming from?" the older of the two humans spoke up.

"It's faint, but it's a defiant little call for help. It's not far from here, just up in the mountains." "In the mountains?" the tall one spoke. "Ratchet, with all due respect, Ironhide and I have searched that thing for hours upon hours upon days until months passed and-"

"-and we still haven't found a single thing." the black one finished. "Skyfire's right. What could possibly be up there?"

Ratchet ignored their perky whining about wanting to go back to whatever they do in the dark, when suddenly, something caught his eye.

"Ironhide." he gestured towards him, moving over a bit then pointing.

Ironhide walked over and bent to get a look at the screen.

"Skyfire, radio Optimus Prime." Ironhide demanded, never taking his eyes off the screen. "We've got a problem."

" _Optimus Prime? Do you read me?_ "

The great transformer sighed as he glanced across the vast valley in front of him. The sun was setting just left of the center of the valley, and a flock of geese were flying straight into the sun. These are the moments he looked forward to. Earth truly was a beautiful planet, and he vowed multiple times to never let her face the same fate as Cybertron. He took a final long last look across the valley and reluctantly turned to start his trek back to base.

"I copy, Skyfire." he sighed. "I'm headed back to base right now.

" _NO!_ "

Optimus Prime stopped mid step. It wasn't everyday his Autobots gave him a command, and when they did, it was for a damn good reason.

"Skyfire, what's going on?"

" _My apologies, Optimus. I didn't mean to yell that._ _But I am serious, don't come back to the base._ "

Optimus was a little worried. He's never been told not to come back to the base before. He's usually called to the base. Not away.

"Skyfire? Explain what's going on?"

"What should I say to him?" Skyfire frantically asked anyone who was willing to answer him. He looked over his shoulder and gasped.

The distress signal detected was intercepted about fifty miles from their base. They ran the normal procedure that was required of them. But once the decepticons were out of site, they ran home. The transformer in their possession was in dire need of medical attention. She was unconscious and unresponsive. As soon as Ratchet got his hands on her, he started any and all medical procedures. When they finally got back to the base, everyone had something they needed to do. Even skyfire had the excess of open wounds on his hands.

"Wheel Jack, I need you to stabilize her. She's waking up." Ratchet frantically stated, reaching for another syringe full of sedatives.

" _Skyfire. Answer me!_ "

"IRONHIDE!" Skyfire yelled.

Ironhide didn't even look up. He had the blue energon covering up to his elbows. He wasn't even sure what he was doing, Ratchet had grabbed his hands and shoved them down there and told him to hold and to not move, and he wasn't moving.

"Make something up! I'm a little busy right now!" Ironhide argued.

"LIKE WHAT!?"

"I DON'T KNOW! I SPECIALIZE IN WEAPONRY, NOT LYING!"

"I'll radio Bumblebee." Wheeljack piped in, shaking the red and black off his hands. "He's been following the remaining Decepticons we chased off since then. I'll have him attack them when Optimus gives his '1 minute to go' warning. That way it looks like Bumblebee needed his help."

"Works for me." Skyfire said.

Wheeljack turned and worked to locate Bumblebee's current position. Skyfire turned to radio Prime back.

" _Bumblebee is in need of your help,_ " came the answer that Prime had been anxiously waiting for. " _He was making his scout rounds when the decepticons jumped him. We're tied down here with Tessa's study project._ "

"Give me his current location. I'll be right there."

Optimus Prime had already hit the road in his alt-mode and on his way when Skyfire had finally routed him the coordinates. It was pretty far from him, and he was for sure that he wasn't the closest Autobot. But Optimus trusted Skyfire and Ratchet, whom Prime knew was directing Skyfire from behind.

But then again, Bumblebee was helping with the kid's research project before he left… and Skyfire said they weren't done…

Optimus angrily pushed these thoughts out of his mind. They were his Autobots, of course they wouldn't lie to him. He was the Prime, chosen by Primus himself. He had worked hard to gain his friend's trust as leader. Some of them had been friends even before he was Prime, before he was Optimus. Back to when he was a young bot, religiously confused, sneaking past his reported hours into the library he worked to guard to learn more about everything. He didn't think the ones who trusted to lead him on and off the battlefield would lie to him here. He had to believe in that.

"He's not going to be too happy about that." Skyfire sighed as he returned to monitoring activity on the patient in front of him.

"It's the only option we have." Ironhide said, still not looking up or moving from his position. "We don't know what will happen if we brought him here with her."

"But what if he wasn't even coming back?" Skyfire protested, his guilt for lying to the great Prime overtaking the importance of not telling him. "We all know where he goes when he's not working or fighting. He has stayed up there for days at a time."

The younger human spoke up. She had blonde hair that flowed down her back and settled right in the middle. "But we had asked Optimus to help us with our project." she chirped. "As the oldest and most calm, we wanted to see how he would react to the dark compared to someone who was younger and more impatient, like Smokescreen."

"Tessa," an Autobot who was holding the patient's head still spoke. He was white in color, with a red and blue pattern over his body. But unlike Skyfire, the white and blue covered more of the white and he was significantly smaller than even Ironhide himself. "If I wasn't impatient, I wouldn't be able to sit here and hold her head still like this for this long."

"You've been griping about it even before you actually laid a hand on her." Ratchet snarled, not taking his eyes away from his work in her chest.

"And this sucks," the young Autobot complained once again. He shyly looked around, and began a slow release of pressure on her head.

"If you let go of her head you will not only be facing the wrath of both Ratchet and I," Ironhide ordered, focusing on Ratchet's steady hands. "But you will also face the wrath of a severely pissed off Optimus Prime and you know full damn well what HALF of that looks like, let alone all of it."

Smokescreen sighed and returned to his original position. Tessa laughed at her hypothesis of him being impatient being proven right in front of him.

"You have never told us why this woman is so important to Optimus Prime and why we had to lie to keep him away from her." Tessa's father, Cade, said questionably.

The room went dead silent. Tessa and Cade tensed up at the scene. The only sound was of metal-on-metal as Ratchet continued to work, seemingly oblivious to the conversation around him. Finally, Skyfire spoke up.

"It isn't this female transformer personally," he said with much caution, his eyes focused not on the humans, but on Ironhide.

Cade and Tessa studied Ironhide. Tessa, majoring in psychology, wondered if human behavior was the same as transformer behavior. Ironhide still had his hands holding on to what was identified to him as the woman's damaged axles. He held them together, keeping everything in her body in place as Ratchet worked to weld everything back together. But something was different. The way that he looked at the woman lying on the table in front of him… it wasn't just a worried expression.

Tessa knew that face all too well.

"You can't mean…" she trailed off, looking back up at Skyfire who nodded slowly.

"What?" Cade asked both them, feeling left out as he clearly missed everything that Tessa just summed up in a less than half a minute.

"It's the fact that our female Autobots are alive," the old warrior strained to say with the most amount of calm and least amount of despair that he could muster. "But they are nowhere near safe."

Everyone but Ratchet stopped what they were doing and looked at Ironhide. Ratchet paused for just a nano second to look at the warrior he claimed as his brother from another mother. But almost as quickly as he had stopped, he had returned to get his friend's mate back to full repair.

Bumblebee just didn't get it.

As the youngest of the Autobots, he had always seemed to get the dirty jobs. On Cybertron, he was highly recognized for his accomplishments as a scout in training. But here on Earth, he was the only one so he had to be and do the worse.

Like facing five Decepticons, alone, and be beat up for a minute until Optimus Prime arrived in full battle mode about to kick ass, then be lead back to the base where he will discover news that will destroy his little soul.

Bumblebee had manipulated the Decepticons to take a very scenic route, so on the ride back, Optimus will want to go slow to observe as much as it as he could. And, if he were to be honest, he wanted to see it as well. This truly was a magnificent planet, and it was a shame that the humans were treating her so poorly. Nothing is ever promised in life, and if the war for Cybertron had taught him anything that wasn't traumatic, it was that.

But he couldn't help but wonder. If Ironhide's mate was still alive, would the others be as well?

" _One minute away, Bee. Hang in there._ "

His thoughts cut short by the transformer he viewed as his father's voice, Bumblebee transformed and shot directly over the Decepticons' heads.

All five of them turned in his direction, and Bumblebee shouted with all his might.

"How bad can you make me look in one minute?"

"She's stable," Skyfire stated as Ratchet approached him. "The sedative should be wearing off any minute now."

Ratchet looked at Ironhide.

"The choice is yours brother." he said, shakingly. "As current commanding officer in Prime's absence, you have to be here to witness this. But if you want to be here as something else as well, you can be." The great transformer paused as Ironhide took a deep, unnecessary breath. "But I must warn you," he said with such great caution that Ironhide met his eyes for the first time since to procedure started. "She may not be the same as you left her."

"I never left her." Ironhide said, walking right to her side. He took her hand gently, then laid it back down. He looked at her for a moment, then picked it up again.

Tessa looked at her dad worriedly. Cade nodded in agreement and looked at Ratchet who was giving them the same face.

The trek back to the base hadn't been as dreadful as Optimus thought it would be. Bumblebee seemed to have been barely holding his own. But with the Decepticon threat eliminated, they were in no hurry to get back to the base. The path had been enforced with beautifully scenery and Bumblebee seemed to be just as interested to stop and enjoy it as he had. But, alas, everything must come to an end, and the base was a mere few clicks out. Just as they reached the main entrance door, Bumblebee stopped him.

Bumblebee seemed to want Optimus' trust as switched on his radio.

"We're back," he warned whoever was on the other side.

A response was given immediately.

" _We're as ready as we can be._ " Skyfire's voiced pulled through. " _Be careful though...the place is quite a mess right now_."

Optimus raised an eyebrow questioningly, but Bumblebee just pushed through the front doors, leaving Optimus dumbfounded.

The place was a mess. There were scratches up and down the road, just as there was on the tile a few steps ahead, as if someone clawed their way through here. The floor tiles were torn up here and there. But what surprised Optimus the most: Bumblebee didn't even question it. He just kept right on walking through the hall, not even looking at the damage done.

Optimus barked for Ironhide, but no answer was given.

Something's going on.

When Bumblebee stopped at the doorway of the medical room, it all made sense to Optimus.

Ironhide sat in a far corner, cradling a female transformer close to his chest. A _female_ transformer.

Optimus immediately began to panic.

"Where did _she_ come from!?" he angrily yelled at whoever would listen.

Ratchet rushed to him immediately.

"Optimus, please, not like that. We can tell you everything, and I know you're a little panicked, but I need you to be calm."

"CHROMIA IS HERE AND ALIVE AND YOU WANT ME TO BE CALM!? WHERE ARE THE OTHERS? ARE THEY SAFE?"

Ratchet was about to say something when a weak, soft voice spoke up.

"The others are on this planet called Earth." the transformer in Ironhide said, not making any move away from Ironhide, or any move to look at the Prime. "And no," she sighed. "They are not safe."


	2. Chapter 2

_**Just so y'all know, I'm fairly new at this whole fan fiction thing. If I do something wrong, please just tell me… I love writing, so I'd love to make this work, but I don't know what kind of reactions I'm getting from people,... should I keep writing? What should I base the storyline around? Who should be in it? I have a general idea, but I'd love some feedback. Please and thank you! Have a marvelous day, keep on keepin on!**_

 _There had been heavy Decepticon fire in close proximity to Iacon. Those Autobots who had stayed back at their HQ were anxious. Hopefully Optimus Prime would be able to keep the decepticons from entering the city's borders. They weren't ready for another attack, they were still recovering from the last one._

 _As the maps on the screen showed the progressive advances the decepticons had, the commander sitting in the middle of the room looked determined._

 _She had witnessed the destruction the decepticons had left in their last attack, just a few stellar cycles ago. By the time the autobots had drove the decepticons out of the city, all hope had been lost. It wasn't long until Optimus Prime ordered the construction of walls lining the border of the sacred city. He had wished to oversee the construction himself, but duty called him to Crystal City. He took a couple hundred troops with him, leaving his most trusted companion behind to watch, guard, and protect the city._

 _Which is exactly what Elita-1 had been doing._

 _Despite the Autobot's belief, they had quite a few numbers left. She had divided the wall building into four different shifts. When one Autobot's shift was over, another replaced him until the end of his shift. Each Autobot spent one shift on the wall, one on break, one on the city's reconstruction, and another for rest, then repeat. Everyone was required to take their breaks seriously, for no one knew when the next attack would come, and Eltia and Optimus wanted to wall built as soon as possible._

 _Elita was no Prime, but she was respected as one. As Optimus' potential mate, Cybertronian law said that she demanded the same respect. But, contrary to most autobots, Elita didn't demand it. She worked hard to_ _earn_ _it, and if anyone still didn't have respect for her out of their own spark, they sure did as she rebuilt the city that had perished._

 _Optimus Prime was wise in his choosing, and everyone knew it._

Cade Yeager reached for the box of Lucky Charms drowsily. Tessa was still working on her studies project, and it was taking up most of his time. He hadn't had a full night's sleep in a long time.

He heard someone giggling behind the door. Cade rolled his eyes, identifying the hearty chuckle that followed.

"If you two are taking a break," he called out. "Come out here and join me."

Tessa emerged from the doorway, all smiles, pulling her boyfriend, Shane, in behind him.

"Good morning, daddy," she chirped, pulling a chair out and sitting in it.

"Daddy, huh?" Cade asked, taking his bowl, spoon, Lucky Charms, and milk to the seat across from his daughter. "That means you want something, or you're up to something." He poured some Charms into his bowl, staring at the contents helplessly.

Not a single Charms marshmallow had poured out.

Shane bursted into a fit of laughter.

"Not so Lucky in your Charms are you?" Shane cackled.

Cade was furious, but he couldn't help but smile.

"You better run, Lucky Charms," Cade used the nickname he had given his

daughter's boyfriend. Shane stood slowly, as if approaching a wild beast.

"Shane," Tessa warned, just as Cade leaped forward, just missing the boy's shirt.

Shane took off down the hallway, laughing, with Cade close on his heels. Tessa followed closely behind, looking for a place to watch the aftermath. As they ran, Bumblebee appeared in their line of traffic, a little late for them to notice. Shane leaped on the hood, over the camaro, and onto the ground, with Cade still close on his heels. The Autobot stopped Tessa, who could hear the rage in the bot's voice as he transformed and darted after the other two.

"Not on my paint," he bellowed, starting his descent after the two.

Tessa could here her father and boyfriend laughing down the hall. After hearing their shouts, she assumed Bumblebee had finally reached them. But, what had caught her attention, was the blue transformer in the room in front of her.

He had his head in his hands, staring at a spot on the floor, a look of complete dread on his face.

"Optimus?" she called, getting nothing in response. She walked over to where the autobot leader was sitting, and made a point of making him notice her. "Optimus Prime, talk to me."

"There is nothing to talk about." Prime grumbled.

"Bullshit."

Optimus Prime was taken back at the teenagers choice of words. No one besides the decepticons and those working for them spoke to him that way.

"Tessa…"

"Don't 'Tessa' me," she demanded. She had no idea what she was doing, with a single move of his foot, she would be a pancake on the ground. But that didn't stop her. "I know that look all too well, Prime. I'd seen my dad bear it when my mother died. You look like shit. You need to talk to someone. I am the most educated person in this facility with the means of helping you."

"You're majoring in human psychology," Optimus calmly reminded her. "That isn't the same as _our_ psychology."

"You still should talk to me."

Optimus Prime sighed. He had grown fond of the female offspring of Mr. Cade Yeager. She had been through more than they'd give her credit for.

"It's Chromia…" he finally said.

"The new autobot?"

"Yes," he paused. "She was last seen with my… as humans would call it, girlfriend. She says that the other femmes that were with her are not doing too good."

Tessa sighed. She couldn't help him with this.

"Well, did she say where they were?"

"Somewhere on Earth. Somewhere where there was a lot of seclusion… she said they had only seen one other human, someone who was working with those who kept her." Optimus paused again. "She also said it was cold…"

Tessa smiled, "I think I know where to start looking."

Elita-1 forced her optics open. The only light in the room where the other four pairs of optics surrounding her. Someone was saying something, but Elita wasn't awake enough to hear it. What happened to her? She thought hard…

 _She was on a table, a metal strap on her wrists, ankles, thighs, stomach, chest and forehead. Whoever had her here, didn't want her to move._

" _Well, finally, someone's awake."_

 _Elita cringed at the intensity in his voice. Her hearing was still sensitive, and it was like he was yelling. She gave her best effort at putting a mask on, hiding her emotions._

" _Knockout," she spat, looking dead ahead._

" _I knew you would remember me eventually." he almost smiled. "You're a smart girl, Elita. I see why Optimus Prime saw such...interest, in you." he paused, trailing a hand down her face._

 _Elita fought every instinct that screamed at her to flinch away from his touch. No one had ever touched her except for her Prime. He made sure of it. Now, she was sitting here being touched by the very con that stripped her and Prime away._

 _Knockout reached behind him and grabbed something off the table._

" _This might hurt….a lot."_

"Elita...Elita…"

She focused on the pairs of eyes. Something wasn't right...one was missing.

"Who…" she struggled to push the words out of her mouth. "Who's… not…"

"They took Chromia a few megacycles ago," the voice said. "We haven't heard from her since."

Elita closed her optics again.

 _Please Primus…_ she silently prayed for the first time in eons. _Please have mercy…_


End file.
